A student plans to determine the resistivity of a specific type of metal. To do this, the student will use wires constructed of the metal with known dimensions that are connected to a variable power source. The potential difference across and the current through each wire are measured and the resistance of each is calculated. The resistance is used to determine the resistivity. Which of the following should be kept constant to ensure that the resistivity values are consistent, and why? a. The potential difference across the wires, because then only the currents will be different.
b. The currents in the wires, because then only the resistances will be different.
c. The lengths of the wires, because the resistivity changes with length.
d. The temperature of the wires, because resistivity changes with temperature.